Frozen
by Wermo
Summary: Space and time were once at Hiro's command. With his tumour progressing, something unexpected happens when he sneezes. He finds another cute waitress type in Amanda Bloom. My first cross over, complete at six chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own neither Heroes nor Kyle XY. All rights retained by their owners.**

Hiro Nakamura sneezed and vanished from the carnival.

Somehow he vanished from his entire universe and into a parallel one, where a scientific organization called Latnok was attempting, through somewhat questionable means, to improve humanity. He only didn't consciously know it yet.

***

"Achoo!" The cold and flu season in North America was not leaving Hiro particularly happy. He wiped his handkerchief and glanced around. "Uh oh," he said to himself in Japanese.

He had thought he'd regained control over his power in the last few weeks. Apparently it wasn't entirely the case. He found himself in front of a little restaurant named The Rack, which seemed not particularly busy at the time. Sensing he needed to know where he was – and what year, month, and day it was too – he walked inside. With a quick glance he noticed this was primarily a drink establishment, a place of slushies and other noxious concoctions, but thankfully non alcoholic ones.

There was a very pretty blond haired girl standing at the counter who said, "Hi, can I help you?" He glanced at her nametag; it read Amanda.

He composed his broken English in his head before speaking. It made him look as though he hesitated before every sentence. This girl was very pretty, made him think of Charlie, his love trapped in time and space by the Evil Butterfly Man, Samuel.

"I am Hiro Nakamura. May I ask what city I am in? I have traveled a long way it seems." He was pleased that his English was coming along so nicely.

The girl named Amanda looked at him somewhat curiously but smiled a radiant smile, just like his Charlie. "You're in northern Seattle. Where are you from?" She didn't have the immensely pleasant Texan drawl of his sweet Charlie, but her voice was very sweet in its own way.

"Seattle… West coast of US?" With all his travelling he was quickly learning about the world at large. It also helped things that he seemed to teleport primarily in the United States of America, with the exception of that time in Africa. He decided a long time ago it was easier to say where his home was instead of exactly where he'd come from, especially when he teleported as he just had. "I come from Japan."

"Japan has always been such an exotic country to me," Amanda said.

Not that he planned to do anything but get back to the carnival, but a drink and a little conversation wouldn't hurt, especially with such a cute girl. "I take it you have never been?"

"Oh no! I've barely ever left Seattle!" She blushed.

"That's too bad," he said. He meant it too. It appeared that many cute girls in America didn't get to travel like him. The cheerleader was cute but she traveled – she seemed the exception. Thinking about it, maybe it was because he was the son of a very powerful man in Japan, the late head of Nakamura Industries. Perhaps he had a skewed view of life instead of the other way around…

His smile faltered for the smallest instant but Hiro was an optimist nearly to a fault. Had he still been in the prime of his power – before the tumor – he might have stopped time and found the paper to make this girl an origami crane as a souvenir of Japan, but now he conserved his energies unless it was to be a hero.

Back to business Amanda asked, "Do you want something to drink?"

"Yes, what do you recommend?" He was always polite this way. Besides, it was his experience that cute waitresses always knew the best things on the menu. His heart panged for his Charlie but he didn't let it show.

She smiled brightly. "I'm partial to the strawberry kiwi smoothie myself."

"That's what I'll have!" he said with a broad smile of his own.

The front door opened with a bell, and Amanda's face darkened at the sight of the customer, a dark haired, fair skinned man with bright blue eyes. She got to work and made a point of ignoring the newcomer.

The young man's brow was bunched together into a truly pathetic look. Hiro sensed this was a lover's quarrel and not a bad man generally. In fact, the man smiled back to him after he'd frowned at Amanda without saying a word.

Hiro felt a tickle in his nose. "Oh no," he muttered in Japanese, drawing Amanda's and the new man's attention.

The new man said in fluent Japanese, "Hello sir, what's the matter?"

Hiro rubbed his nose, trying to subdue the tickle that was growing.

Amanda looked up to the man and said, "Kyle, since when do you speak Japanese?"

Hiro replied to this nice man named Kyle, but this time in English. "I have a cold."

Amanda nodded, "I just had one last week; it was terrible." She said this while cutting fresh kiwi. Hiro noticed the strawberries were already in the blender with a few more ingredients, including to his surprise ice cream! How he loved ice cream.

Kyle replied belatedly to Amanda. "Amanda, I've known Japanese for two years; I just don't get to use it."

Hiro, again in English, said, "You speak it very well, like a native speaker."

Amanda rolled her eyes and said, "Kyle does everything naturally, even walking off roofs."

Kyle said loudly, exasperatedly, "Amanda!"

"What Kyle?" Amanda's face was flushed red. "You picked Jessi and you expect me to be nice all the time? I'm human you know!" She muttered something unintelligible to Hiro just before throwing in the kiwi and turning on the blender.

Kyle competed with the sound of the blender. "You deserve to know the whole truth Amanda, but not here, and not when you're angry."

"I think I'll be angry for a while Kyle." She almost spat his name.

Hiro concluded this was certainly a lover's quarrel and something he should not get involved in. Having forgotten his nose, it surprised him and he started a huge sneeze. "Ach –"

***

Kyle said "Bless you," to the Japanese man at the exact same time as Amanda. His gaze never left her though. He did notice her glance the man's way, and a frown instantly formed on her face.

She never even turned to him but called his name, "Kyle?"

He turned to the Japanese man and a frown appeared immediately on his face.

The Japanese man was in mid sneeze, seemingly frozen in place. Had it not been such a strange sight, it might even have been humorous.

"What just happened?" Amanda asked him.

He was just as bewildered as she. "I have no idea."

Her heart beat increased dramatically as the blender's motor continued to whir. The smoothie had been done seconds ago. He reached over and turned it off for her.

"What's wrong with him?" she asked again, starting to panic.

It looked like the man was in the middle of a sneeze, but frozen there, stuck in the act of sneezing while time flowed around him. Had this man been sent by Latnok or something? He didn't seem like a bad guy in the short time they'd talked.

While Amanda stood frozen, thoroughly panicked, Kyle touched the frozen man. Somehow he had thought maybe the man would be cold to the touch, but he was certainly warm. In fact he had a very mild fever, common for the flu, which he seemed to have. He closed his eyes and tried to sense inside the man's body but felt an unnatural resistance to his probing. On second thought, he didn't even hear the man's heart beat, nor his breath, or his blood coursing through his veins and arteries.

An idea struck him, absurd by itself, but this man could not be dead as he was. His mind was awhirl with possibilities, and he quickly revisited the moment it happened, played it back several times before coming to the only suitable conclusion.

He told Amanda his only hypothesis, "He's frozen in time."


	2. Chapter 2

Amanda pleaded with him, "Please Kyle, use my car."

Kyle had never been able to say no to Amanda, even when they were disagreeing about something. Without so much as a sigh he caught the car keys she threw him. He picked up the frozen man and conspicuously carried him home in Amanda's car. Thankfully there had not been any other customers to explain the events to. He wouldn't have believed the story if he hadn't experienced it first. It was something even his advanced mind found absolutely mind boggling.

Maybe science fiction could pretend to offer science to alter time and space in such a way one could travel through it, but to accidentally become frozen in time was an even greater feat. This was the real world after all, not science fiction. It was an even greater enigma that this man could travel through both without a special outfit or some special instrument.

As he drove Kyle occasionally glanced at this stranger. Because he'd been standing when he froze, Kyle had needed to drop the passenger seat as level as it could go just to fit him in the cabin. He might have been able to put him in the trunk but didn't think that was a good idea, even if he'd tied him down. What if he unfroze while he drove home? Somehow the word thawed didn't fit in this situation but then what would? In any case, it didn't look like he could bend the stranger but he also did not apply any real pressure to the attempt. Somehow Kyle had still managed to put the seatbelt around the short man, despite its apparent uselessness in the event of a crash, only due to its positioning.

Nevertheless the drive home was uneventful. As he pulled into the driveway and stopped the car, he wondered the likelihood of something like this even happening, much less to him.

Jessi, his adopted sister, fellow podling, and girlfriend greeted him at the front door. Her smile faltered immediately upon seeing the frozen Japanese man. He frowned at her and got out of the car.

Jessi was typically a take charge kind of girl and had all the same abilities that he did. Some she did better, others he did. She quite commonly took their abilities as a competition whereas he viewed them as tools to help others and to generally survive the scientists who created him, supposed humanitarians who generally saw him and Jessi as experiments, and less than human.

"Kyle," she said as she took a few steps toward him. "Why are you driving Amanda's car?"

Knowing it would sound absurd, he said while he walked around the car to the passenger side, "This guy froze in mid sneeze while talking to Amanda. When he didn't _thaw_ immediately, she begged me to bring him here, to keep the authorities away I guess."

Jessi halted her advance and grimaced. "He's dead," she announced.

Kyle reached over and undid the clasp on the seatbelt. He carefully started pulling the short man out of the car. "He's still warm; he's not dead." He wanted to see what theories she came up with; it was the only reason he didn't announce his theory. He often found Jessi's reasoning to be vastly different from his, even though they both had highly advanced brains from their extended incubation.

Her grimace was replaced by curiosity. "You're right." She waited until he closed the door and picked up the frozen man. She put her hand to the man's shoulder, obviously trying to sense him. He kept walking to the front door. She stood rooted to the spot. Kyle smiled as he recognized the look she had on her face. Jessi was analyzing data and coming up with ideas as to why she wasn't able to really sense the man. He'd done the same, though he guessed Amanda wouldn't have noticed his look.

He was just happy he wasn't the only one with looks, like his old Amanda looks, or his Jessi looks. They were often embarrassing.

With his free hand he opened the front door. Over his shoulder, he said lighter than normal, "Are you coming?" He knew her mind would register his question when it was done examining the situation. It would probably take another twenty seconds or so.

Kyle put the Japanese man down in his room. He stood beside him, marveling at the way time seemed to flow around him. There was nothing he could do to change his state, at least for now.

Jessi walked into his room while he pondered the enigma. She announced, "He's not completely _here_."

Kyle smiled; what a beautiful way of expressing the same conclusion he'd had. His version would surely have been accompanied by tacky music in a movie. He shook his head – he really should never have read that famous movie director's memoirs. He kept thinking of how best to turn a scene into an unforgettable engrossing movie. To keep up the pretense for just a moment longer though, he said, "How do you mean?"

She noticed his smile and smiled back. "You're playing with me," she playfully accused. She wrapped her arm around his waist and gave him a small squeeze.

He looked into her brown eyes and felt himself being lured in. Jessi was so beautiful. "A little, but I wanted to know if you came up with the same result. It's not exactly expected."

She laughed a short laugh. "No it isn't."

"Humor me then? How is he not here?"

"He's here in three dimensions at least, the physical, special dimensions." She paused a moment before continuing. "He still has mass and gravity still works on him but the dimension of time; it's just not affecting him, I don't think."

That was a curious thought. "If he stayed like this for a year, you don't think he'd age?" he asked.

"I don't think so. It's like time has forgotten he's even there."

He smiled broadly. "You're making time sound like a person."

Her gaze turned to the frozen man. Kyle had a distinct impression he'd hurt her feelings. "Where is he from?" she asked, changing the subject.

"He speaks fluent Japanese so probably Japan."

"We both speak fluent Japanese Kyle and we're not Japanese," she said quickly. "Although it fits him." She took her arm from his waist and walked up to the stranger. "Does he have ID?" She started looking in the man's pockets. She quickly pulled out a thin wallet and ruffled quickly through it.

"Jessi," he moaned.

She seemed to ignore his displeasure. She pulled out a card and gazed at it closely. "Nakamura Industries, Hiro Nakamura, President and CEO," she said and stopped.

The young Japanese man's title certainly surprised him too.

Jessi read another card, "Dial A Hero." She squinted her eyes at this Hiro. Kyle idly wondered if it a simple play on the sound of his name in English or if it was more?

She leafed through a number of bills before pulling out a few. "Kyle," she said warily. "_Where_ is he from?"

"What do you mean?"

"Look," she said as she spread out the bills. They were clearly American dollars, which shouldn't be surprising. On closer inspection though, he noticed the twenty had the face of a minor member of parliament, with the title of President.

"Okay, that's strange." It was hard enough to visualize someone flowing through time, backward and forward, but to come from an alternate, parallel universe was an even stranger thought. He went immediately to his computer and started a search for Hiro Nakamura of Nakamura Industries.

The company didn't exist or was some sort of secret organization. He searched for Hiro and then Dial A Hero and got nothing of interest. Jessi came up behind him and looked at the screen over his shoulder. On a whim he searched the popularity of the surname Nakamura. It was very low in its usage statistics, which should have made it easier to locate him.

Jessi spoke in a whisper, just above his ear, "Maybe in our universe his parents never met."

Kyle turned to her, "And in his, we might not." A sudden thought struck him, "Jessi, I should go return Amanda's car." He held her hand, procrastinating.

"Can you imagine Latnok getting him?" He could see the worry in her eyes.

He shook his head. "That's why no one but us and Amanda must know about him. Our family too of course."

She rolled her eyes. "Can't we tell _her_ he unfroze and disappeared?"

"You know I don't lie well; even she could tell if I lied to her."

Jessi opened her mouth, about to say something, but closed it without saying a word.

"And she wouldn't believe you if you told her," he said with a grim smile. She looked into his eyes, shrugging adorably.

"Go then, before I kiss you," she whispered. He was awfully tempted to experience the power they generated whenever they kissed and made out. Even with Hiro's eyes closed though because of his sneeze, he dreaded the man returning while they kissed. He nearly groaned as he dismissed the word returned as valid for the man's condition.

He hugged her instead and kissed her forehead. "I'll be right back."

"Take your time," she said with a twinkle in her eye. He gave her a questioning look, knowing there was mischief brewing. He didn't always approve of her mischief. "I want to see if I can't find our Hiro Nakamura with this." She presented him with a Japanese bank card.

He certainly didn't approve but knew she could conduct the search safely, anonymously. As a result he wasn't going to wish her luck or tell her to be careful. "I'll run back."

She nodded, "I'll be done by then." She sat down and started typing.

When he returned to the Rack it was much busier and he had to wait in line just to hand her back her keys. He tried in vain to talk to her but she coldly turned to the next customer. She did however whisper thanks first. Once outside he started running and didn't slow for anything. Knowing quite well the distance between home and the Rack, he knew it would take him six minutes nineteen seconds to get back.

***

"Choo!" he sneezed. Hiro blinked once then a second time as he noticed the surroundings changed drastically from slushy restaurant to a room that doubled perhaps as bathroom and computer room? There was a large porcelain bathtub in the middle of the room and a fancy computer against the wall. He wondered where he had teleported to now. He only hoped no one was home.

"Oh good you're back!" came a female's voice in English from the room's single open door. It wasn't a voice he recognized. Hiro found the woman's voice pleasant enough and sufficiently non threatening that he chose not to stop time. The voice's owner came into the small room. The woman was tall and pretty with shoulder length brown hair. His first impression was of a rather fit athletic girl. He decided Ando would probably like her as she was too tall for him.

"Hiro Nakamura," she said in perfect Japanese. His eyes narrowed – he was not accustomed to encountering so many Americans who spoke fluent, native Japanese.

The tall lady stopped mid stride when she noticed his suspicion. He tried to smile, to hide his distrust. She spoke in English, "My name is Jessi Trager. You've met Kyle and Amanda and now you're in Kyle's room."

"What happened?" he asked, worry scrabbling into his features. He suspected he already knew what happened. He had frozen again, as he had when he'd saved Ando from certain injury while saving a cat for a Dial A Hero. He sighed about his luck. One of these days he would be stopped in time in front of the Brain Man or something, completely helpless. He'd come back, missing a portion of his head. He shivered at the thought.

"We believe you were stuck in time." She had said the sentence slowly, as though in hesitation.

"How did you know this?" Hiro asked quickly in Japanese. He might not be bound in ropes but he was worried these people may wish him harm. After all, the master of time and space would be a valuable tool for any villain. One only had to ask Evil Butterfly Man; there wasn't much worse than him as a villain. Even Brain Man saved Charlie and had redeemable qualities, however faint they might have been.

Kyle appeared behind Jessi. "We can sense things people normally can't without special equipment."

"You have a power?" Normally he would have asked with a much happier tone because it was often a time of celebration to find someone with a power. His fear kept his enthusiasm in check.

Jessi answered first. "Not like yours."

Kyle added, "Our brains are well developed. Our brains allow us to do things a normal human can't."

Hiro nodded and exclaimed, "Like Charlie!" He calmed himself down. "She learned Japanese in a few hours."

Kyle and Jessi shared a glance and held each other's hand. It almost looked like they froze in time for three or four seconds but he wasn't sure. He needed to be wary of these two; they definitely had powers and he suspected it was more than Charlie's perfect memory. Suddenly their eyes turned to his as one. It made him feel smaller than he actually was. He debated whether he should freeze time but considering he had been frozen for an indeterminate time, he didn't want to risk it.

Jessi spoke softly while Kyle put his hand on the small of her back. So Kyle, who had been with Amanda, was now with this tall pretty girl. Both were pretty but in vastly different ways. It only appeared to him that the reason was that Kyle and Jessi shared a power, whereas the beautiful Amanda did not. "Hiro, where do you think you are?"

What kind of a question was that? He squinted his eyes at them trying to discern their intent, their villainous motives. However he only saw compassion in both sets of eyes. In fact, Kyle's eye brows were bunched in concern too, a look he seemed to wear a lot. "I was in Seattle before I sneezed."

Kyle said, "You are still in Seattle; we're only a few minutes' drive from the Rack." After a short pause, he supplied a little extra information. "That was the name of the restaurant where Amanda works."

Jessi frowned and clasped her hands nervously in front of her. "Hiro, please accept my apologies, but I looked at your wallet –"

"While you were frozen," helpfully supplied Kyle.

"And found you are the President and CEO of a company that doesn't exist."

"Not on our Earth anyway," added Kyle.

Hiro chuckled nervously even though he wasn't at all pleased they'd rifled through his personal things. "I am no longer President and CEO; my sister is."

Jessi shook her head. "Nakamura Industries has never existed as a company in Japan."

Hiro frowned and looked from one to the other. They appeared genuine and concerned. What they proposed – travel to an alternate universe, to a parallel Earth – was scary beyond imagining. Glancing at the computer, he said, "May I?"

Kyle and Jessi both said, "Sure."

He sat down and put his fingers on the keyboard. When he typed a few characters he remembered that it was very likely a standard US keyboard, and adjusted his fingers accordingly. He called up his favorite internet browser and noticed this computer was very fast. The transfer had been immediate. He preferred this browser because it was clean and wasn't cluttered with countless ads or unnecessary options. He kept his eyes to the screen and started typing the special commands that were commonly used on US keyboards to type specific Japanese kanji. Once it was entered he pressed enter to search.

The browser's comment of "No results found" troubled him greatly. He then decided to type the company's URL manually into the address bar. When he pressed enter he received a generic site offering to sell him the domain name as it was unused and available. He turned to look at them; they hadn't moved and looked even sadder than before. They were telling the truth.

Hiro didn't know what to say. "You have a nice computer," was all he could come up with. "It's really fast."

Jessi bit her lip and acknowledged his compliment. "Thanks, we upgraded it."

His mind was awhirl with possibilities. How was he supposed to know which universe he was in at any given time? Wasn't there a chance he would teleport to a universe where the Earth never became a viable place for life? Or worse, wouldn't it be possible to teleport to a universe where the Earth had never formed or had been destroyed? He suppressed a shudder and experienced another tickle in his nose.

He rubbed his nose with his right hand.

Kyle looked at him in alarm. "Are you going to sneeze again?"

Jessi stared at Kyle for the smallest instant. "That's right, he finished a sneeze when he came back."

"I should have told you," Kyle replied.

Hiro rubbed his nose vigorously. Jessi took a few rapid steps toward him and put her hand to his shoulder. He didn't even notice she'd done that until it had already been done. He turned to her and stared at her very hard. Now if he froze time or teleported, she'd come with him. He felt powerless in keeping the sneeze from coming. He took a small breath, then a bigger one.

"Hold your nose please," Kyle almost yelled, making the desired motion with his hands.

Hiro found Kyle's pose funny but he tried what he suggested. Previously he'd swatted at Jessi's hand but she held firm with an iron grip. He felt a stinging sensation in his nose as the tickle started to fade. It was also accompanied by a strange tingling sensation in his nose and sinuses. He held the pose for a few seconds, still resisting the urge to sneeze throughout. Soon his nose seemed to completely clear and his sore throat faded.

Hiro smiled broadly as he noticed what she was doing. "You have the power to heal?"

Kyle answered for Jessi who was still concentrating. "We both do."

"Kyle?" Jessi interrupted.

Kyle mustn't have liked the tone of her voice because he stood directly beside her. "What's wrong Jessi?"

"Hiro's adrenal glands are three times the size of ours." She turned to Kyle and invited him to put a hand on his other shoulder. Hiro found it odd having two strangers place their hands on his shoulders while he sat at a computer with his index fingers holding in nostrils shut. He might have laughed if he wasn't so frightened of freezing or teleporting them all.

Kyle seemed to be in deep thought as the tingling sensation tripled all throughout his body. "He doesn't have an appendix, not even scar tissue to indicate surgery."

Jessi gasped, "Look at his brain!"

Hiro sighed, "Yes, I have a tumor. It is inoperable." It didn't even occur to him at the time they were looking at his brain without opening his head.

Kyle moaned slightly. "Do you think we could?"

Jessi murmured a reply, "It'll be tricky but yes, absolutely."

Kyle spoke louder, "Hiro, your tumor is killing you right now. If you sneeze now it could be your last."

Jessi said, "It's started bleeding inside your head but we can try to heal it."

Hiro said with a shout, "Do it!" Now that they mentioned it he was feeling a little light headed.

Kyle put both hands on his right shoulder while Jessi put both of hers on his left. Hiro lifted his right hand to stop them. "Kyle, promise me you will tell your story to Amanda tonight, about your power."

"Um, how did you know—" Kyle started to question.

Hiro interrupted him because he started to feel dizzy. "It's the way of a hero! Promise me!" He felt blood pounding in his ears and his palms were sweaty. When he blinked, his eyes felt dry. Was he actually dying right now?

Jessi asked Kyle, "What's this about Amanda?"

Hiro yelled, his fingers again on his nostrils, halting any possibility of a sneeze. "Promise!"

Kyle groaned loudly before answering, "Yes, okay, I will tell her everything tonight!"

Hiro was now content. He stopped fidgeting and relaxed with a loud sigh. "Good, you can start when you are ready." Even if he did die – which he certainly didn't want because Charlie was still lost – at least justice would be served tonight.

Amanda Bloom would learn that Kyle was a Hero. As the tingling sensation flooded his entire body he suddenly thought that Jessi should also tell Amanda about her powers, but strangely he could scarcely move or form a coherent thought. His eyes began to close as a few drops of blood leaked from his nose.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Heroes or Kyle XY**

**Author's Note: Sorry for the delay! Other stories begged to be written and to be honest very few have even read this story (even though those who have are very enthusiastic!) I promise this story will be completed relatively soon (I have an outline for 5-6 chapters total.)**

**Finally, this is obviously AU, though I admit I was surprised how Hiro actually got healed! Who could have possibly thought up that trial? But I digress…**

Hiro opened his eyes and saw the beautiful Amanda Bloom sitting regally, smiling from ear to ear. It was an infectious smile and he returned it eagerly. He blinked as she said, "You're not frozen anymore!"

Hiro squinted as he looked around the room. He lay in a bed with wine red sheets and a dark purple paint on the walls. It was certainly not Kyle's room, where the two had started to heal him. The very thought of Kyle made Hiro suspicious. From Amanda's comment it was almost certain that Kyle had not told her anything yet. Was his word worthless?

He couldn't wait a moment longer. Hiro sat bolt upright and asked Amanda, "Where is Kyle?"

She didn't frown or hesitate in any way. "He and Jessi fell asleep." She giggled. "During the day, they're both napping!"

"They're asleep?" he asked before realization dawned on him. Surely the healing process had been complicated and they had used so much of their energy to save him that they had to rest to recuperate. Amanda nodded then giggled shyly and started blushing when he didn't chuckle. He asked, "When did you get here?" She was amazingly beautiful, this Amanda Bloom. If his heart was not taken by Charlie – and if he wasn't on the wrong Earth altogether – he knew he could fall for this girl.

She smiled again. "I've been here for about a half hour but I was told you are now fully recovered." He reflected for a moment and noticed his head certainly no longer hurt. He took a deep breath and noticed his nose was completely devoid of the mucus that had been making him sneeze so much.

"I seems that I am! Yata!" he exclaimed as he raised his arms.

Amanda burst out laughing. It might have irritated him if she didn't seem so nice. There was nothing in the code of honor that told him not to push things along the righteous path. "Kyle must tell you his secrets tonight," he declared.

Instead of the joyous reaction he expected, Amanda darkened visibly. Her lips pursed most sourly and she was no longer the immensely pretty girl she could be. She opened her mouth, perhaps to question or to complain before closing it again. She sighed then smiled, but much more subdued. "I don't love Kyle anymore," she said.

Hiro's eyes opened wide. He wondered whether Amanda was already with someone else. Did it matter? Did he have to make these two talk even though she was strongly against the whole idea?

"Kyle is special, like me. I am not of this world."

Amanda's smile faltered. "You are from Japan; you said so."

He nodded quickly. "I am. But I am not from this Japan, from this world. I am the Master of Time and Space."

Amanda laughed but it quickly subsided. "I'm sorry; you're serious?" He nodded once, a frown threatening to show on his face. He fought hard to keep it a mask, to hide the hurt he felt. Hiro wasn't at all sure how he had even managed to get to this Earth and there was no guarantee he could get back. She continued, almost painfully it seemed, "So, can you explain why or how you froze in time if you are, um, the master of time and space?"

This was something he could answer easily. He had made his peace with death months ago, although now death seemed to be behind him, at least until he went back to his world. "I was dying of an inoperable brain tumour. It put my mastery of time and space in question, and made it my master for a time." He laughed at his wit. It felt great to not have a head ache or be dizzy. How free he felt!

As Amanda started her reply, he froze time, walked slowly toward and beside her, then restarted time. "So, Hiro, how do—" she stopped then found him to her left. "Wow! That is amazing!" She stood and touched his shoulder. "Did you just move here with a thought or something?"

He shook his head. His head felt perfectly fine. Just in case, he put his finger to his nose to check for blood. "No, I stopped time and walked here."

"I would love to see time stopped! Please show me!" She gripped him fiercely by the shoulders and she looked almost ready to pounce on him, or at least that was his impression.

Sadly he shook his head and said, "This power is a gift; it is not to be abused. If I abuse it I could become a villain, become vain, hunger for more power." He certainly didn't want to risk having another tumour by the simple overuse of his power.

She let go of his shoulders and pouted for the smallest moment. She blinked and he stopped time.

***

Hiro turned around and walked out of the room. He was clearly on the second floor of a nice house. With a little exploration he quickly found Jessi and Kyle sleeping in adjoining rooms and found an older woman in the kitchen, likely Kyle's mother he speculated.

The young man seemed to be resting peacefully in a bath tub. Whether this was normal on this Earth would be a question Hiro would likely never ask. It was simply impolite. Hiro was grateful for the healing they had performed, but Kyle's promise had to be fulfilled. He grasped Kyle's shoulders with both hands and tried to lift him. To his surprise he was heavier than Ando even though he stood half a foot shorter than his friend.

After a fair bit of time – or untime as he liked to imagine it – Hiro unfroze time.

"That's too bad, I mean I understand. Kyle's the best, most selfless person I know," Amanda said. She pursed her lips. "Did you just move again?"

Hiro smiled from ear to ear. She was perceptive. With his eyes he glanced behind her on the bed and she turned quickly, only to gasp in shock.

Amanda's gasp awoke Kyle with a start. "Amanda?"

"Hiro!" she yelled. Kyle turned his gaze in his direction with a frown firmly in place.

Hiro felt somewhat sheepish at having coordinated this conversation so soon but he couldn't wait – refused to actually – he needed to be sure this conversation took place before he attempted to return to his Earth. He had to find Charlie. He smiled, bared his teeth really, before lunging to grab the two by the shoulder.

Kyle surprised him by moving out of the way well in front of his hand and Hiro found himself falling head first onto the bed with Amanda on one arm. She shrieked and he stopped time before Kyle did anything rash.

Amanda squirmed and got up, speaking very quickly, "What are you doing? Are you crazy?" She stopped and looked at Kyle, who was frozen in place. She turned to Hiro, her cheeks red. "Did you freeze him?"

He noticed her delicate hands ball into fists. He shook his head quickly and said, in a soothing voice, or at least an apologetic one, "I froze time."

Amanda cocked her head to one side. "But I'm still moving."

"It was my intention to give you the time to talk without having to actually take time but he is very fast."

She chuckled and added, "You should see how casually he walked off the roof of his house the day I saw him."

Hiro's eyes widened.

She nodded. "I crashed my car thanks to that!"

Hiro was shocked. "You know he's special then? What else can he do?" He wondered idly whether Kyle and Jessi were like Peter Petrelli, or perhaps like Sylar, the Brain Man. Was he in danger?

Amanda looked down to her feet and wiggled her toes in her socks. Why Hiro had actually looked at her feet with her was an annoying character trait or his, something he'd worked on over the years to be rid of. Now of course, with his guard down he'd done it again. "I've seen him do things but he's never told me how or why or even exactly what he can do. He has many secrets and he always teased me about them. When I asked him to reveal a secret, he once told me I had to tell him something he didn't know." Hiro was nodding, anticipating her revelation. "That didn't work. He probably could have told me the color of my underwear had he wanted to."

That comment made Hiro blush – as much as he could be said to blush – which subsequently made her turn beet red. Awkward silence filled the air. Of course, when time was frozen the air often felt and smelled stale, almost lifeless. But things! They looked so vibrant.

Amanda burst out laughing and pointed, "That fly was buzzing around me when I was waiting for you to wake up. I couldn't hit it no matter how hard I tried. You could be the world's best fly swatter."

"Thank you," he said in a monotone. There were much more useful things to be done when time was at your disposal. Pest disposal had never even entered his mind. He looked down at his own feet.

Amanda did not reply. Quietly she took the few steps necessary to stand directly in front of Kyle. She put her hand on his arm and bit her lip as she gazed into his eyes. Hiro's spirits sank as he witnessed the longing in her heart. He bit back the comment that had been on the tip of his tongue, a comment about her not loving the young man.

The feeling only lasted a moment because he then realized exactly how she was looking at Kyle. He was a love that was close and yet so far away – like his Charlie. As the Master of Time and Space he ought to be able to retrieve her easily.

Maybe he could.

He turned away when he noticed Amanda going on the tips of her toes to give Kyle a kiss he would never feel. "I will always love you Kyle," she whispered.

Hiro felt like an intruder in her soul. When the time felt right, he asked her, "He looks like he's concentrating. Do you have any idea what he might be doing?"

"He can't stop time, what are you worried about?"

"Fire, explosions, my head falling off my shoulders. There are people on my world who have very scary powers, very evil people." He continued when her face darkened. "One of them likes to cut open the heads of people like me; he eats their brains and steals their powers."

Amanda shuddered and her eyes were round as saucers. "He eats the brains of Asians?"

He laughed out loud. "No, people with powers, with abilities." She smiled and blushed further. "I have never seen him do it though; maybe he doesn't eat them but the brain is not in his victim's head when he's done with it. He has killed many people and once I thought I had killed him but he came back – maybe he's immortal now, I don't know."

After several seconds of silence, Amanda said, "I've never seen Kyle hit anyone or anything." She paused, biting her lip again. "Maybe you should unfreeze time from the other side of the room though, just in case."

"Come with me then, just in case." He took her hand in his and it felt warm, gentle. They looked into each other's eyes for many seconds and Hiro had the distinct feeling she was looking deep into his heart.

"Let me talk to him," she said just before he unfroze time. "I'll get him to listen."

***

Most people had trouble locating Hiro after he had stopped and restarted time, but not Kyle. He instantly turned toward him with a strange look in his eyes. "What are you doing?" Kyle asked.

Amanda took a step forward and stood in front of Hiro. Hiro was ready to freeze time at the smallest threat. "Hiro only wanted to give us time to talk by freezing us both in time."

"Is this true?" asked Kyle.

"Yes, I promise. I only didn't expect you to move away so quickly."

Kyle grinned slightly, "That's one of the things I can do I guess." He paused as Amanda came closer. "Jessi," he said.

Amanda approached him some more, Hiro directly behind her.

When Hiro felt his feet leave the ground, he stopped time and landed on the soft carpet. Kyle's hand was outstretched, facing toward the door to the bedroom and he had been about to say something. Hiro dismissed Amanda in this situation; she didn't seem to know what had started happening.

Hiro walked out of the bedroom and saw Jessi leaning against the wall, just beside the doorway. Her face was contorted with concentration and effort. He swallowed as he wondered if she too would know exactly where he was when he unfroze time.

He stood in the centre of the room, contemplating his next move. When he divined the correct one, he got to work.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Heroes or Kyle XY**

Hiro unfroze time and counted slowly in Japanese, "One, two, three." He froze time again and walked casually up the street, walked into the house, went upstairs where he assumed Amanda, Kyle, and Jessi would still be – they were – and placed himself on the bed.

Neither Kyle nor Jessi had that strange look of concentration and effort. Instead they looked bewildered. And rightly they should because he had moved them into each other's arms, or at least into each other's face. In the three seconds he'd unfroze time they were still very close but were staring in opposite directions. He smiled at his wit but was prepared to stop time once more if they instantly turned to him and tried lifting him into the air.

He let go of his grip on time and felt the river brush by him again.

To his utter dismay, both Kyle and Jessi turned immediately toward him but as he was directly behind Amanda, they didn't specifically do anything, at least not yet.

Amanda said, confused, "Why are you both staring at me?" as she covered her chest in a reflex.

Hiro noticed the reaction, dismayed. He took a step to the right, emerging from behind Amanda. "I am not that short!" Amanda jumped and shrieked a tiny yell.

Kyle blushed red as a beet and Jessi sputtered for a second before replying angrily, "Do you always mess around with people when you stop time Hiro?"

Amanda said, "What?" and looked directly at him. "You actually control time and space?"

He had told her as much; had she really had to have another demonstration to believe him? Thinking this he started feeling even worse because even Charlie had found it particularly difficult to believe him until he had made one thousand origami cranes appear before her very eyes. Giving Amanda the tiniest glance, he nodded and said, "Yes," before returning his attention to the two who had healed him. Both Jessi and Kyle had turned to him but did not seem particularly threatening, only wary. He looked at them intensely before feeling very bad. "I'm sorry," he said then bowed.

Jessi grinned at him and said, "Can you teach me?"

"No." Didn't they know people usually only had one power? Unless of course, like them, they were empaths. Of course, he thought. Maybe he could teach them.

Kyle said to Jessi, "That's not a good idea."

"It's a terrific idea!" she shouted in the small room.

"Your adrenal gland is too small—" Kyle started.

"I can make it grow," Jessi retorted.

"—and you are missing that unknown gland at the base of his brain."

"That gland could be a red herring Kyle and you know it. He doesn't have an appendix but we do. That doesn't mean a thing! His brain is smaller than ours. Maybe mine can compensate."

Amanda muttered, her eyes wide as saucers. "What are you two talking about?"

Hiro yelled above the commotion that started at Amanda's question. After several moments – and Jessi taking hurried steps toward him – he stopped time just as Jessi was about to touch him and exhaled. He turned Jessi 180 degrees and unfroze time.

Jessi almost immediately stopped running and turned as he had expected. "That's really annoying!"

Amanda said, "That's cool!"

Kyle harrumphed.

"I don't know if I can teach you," Hiro started, "but I will try as payment for your healing."

Jessi smiled broadly while Kyle frowned. Amanda's eyes sparkled as she considered the possibilities. Hiro, suddenly unsure, turned to Kyle and said, "Is Amanda special too?"

If Kyle's eyes could speak they would have yelled no at the top of their non-existent lungs. As it was Hiro saw Kyle's eyes open a bit larger and the smallest shake of the head to say, "No, she's not." Hiro winced just a little before he remembered the true purpose of the entire ordeal.

Hiro smiled his most villainous smile, not that there was anything truly villainous about him. "But first!" he exclaimed, pointing a hand to the ceiling. "You must tell Amanda all of your secrets." In Jessi's direction, he added, "Both of you."

Although he had originally thought to stop time to assist in the telling of their secrets, he did not want to overtax himself. After this he still had to try to get back to his universe. Maybe, if he tried to teach Kyle and Jessi how to control time, they could help him figure a way to get there. After all, he'd tried to back up time on a few occasions and it was easy when there were no people to disturb him, but it was much, much harder to do with people observing him. Although he thought of himself as the Master of Time and Space, he knew it still held some secrets from him.

He would only become the true master when he could completely control his teleportation and the flow of time. The good news was that he definitely seemed to be able to control the freezing of time much easier now that he was healed. He also couldn't forget his brief teleport down the street. The mere fact he had not changed time when he teleported was especially gratifying.

And yet, Hiro pondered as he waited for the telling of secrets to finish, whether it would even be possible to know whether he teleported to the right Earth when he got there. Even if he picked one where everything was the same, all but one thing, it would not be the right Earth.

What if he teleported to an Earth that had no trapped Charlie? Or one where the Brain Man had managed to kill him? Or worse, one where the dead roamed the streets, or one where life had been utterly destroyed by countless nuclear warheads? There were endless possibilities. It sent his mind awhirl and forced him to sit.

He did nonetheless keep an ear open on the monologues Jessi and Kyle told Amanda. What he heard was unlike anything he could have ever imagined.

**Author's Note: Two more chapters to go! I will be working on this story almost exclusively until it's done. Watching the Olympics is slowing me though. And by the way, the last chapter will be fairly long and might be cool to read. It's certainly neat to envision.**


	5. Chapter 5

Hiro was beside himself. He could scarcely believe that both of his healers were _normal_ humans and not at all special. The only difference was that they had been incubated for sixteen years of life, had been born from artificial wombs as teenagers, but without the family and the time necessary to learn right from wrong. He supposed it was equally likely to have others like these two somewhere on this Earth, who would be hungry for power and be villains.  
Hiro stared at Amanda's face as she absorbed all that Kyle and Jessi had told her. Tears had been falling throughout the monologues – even Jessi's – and she nodded solemnly on numerous occasions, as if she was putting various puzzle pieces into place on a puzzle she had been futilely trying to put together. The puzzle was in fact what had caused the break-up; the secrets had piled on too high.  
With a sigh, Hiro understood all too well. Some heroes would become martyrs and he supposed if Kyle and Jessi did not get together as they had, Kyle would have lost them both and would have led a lonely existence. His secrets would have most certainly become an impenetrable wall. Jessi on the other hand seemed fiery and full of vigor. When she was presented with a challenge she saw it through to the end.  
Hiro easily saw how she needed Kyle's tempering aura to calm her or it would be used by their enemies to enact her downfall. Besides, Hiro reluctantly knew his own weakness: Charlie. And yet it had taken Samuel the Evil Butterfly Man for him to fully realize he too could be manipulated and defeated. No one had yet killed him other than by the grace of teleporting to this alternate Earth; otherwise the tumor certainly would have.  
No, Hiro concluded, Amanda had somehow known or suspected much of their stories and yet had been totally taken by surprise with how much danger she had been in all along. She wrung her hands even now, and rubbed at a spot at the back of her head where a computer chip had been, or so the story had been told.  
These scientists at Latnok were far from humanitarian. Perhaps they thought they were or believed their methods were a means to the best possible ending for humanity as a whole, but they forgot one important thing. Kyle, Jessi, and all other _experiments_ were human, too. Hiro had considered leaving the trio of acquaintances, despite his promises, despite his honor, to get back to his Charlie. He was unsure whether he could in fact teach either one to control time or space, but he was now resolved to try. They deserved to have that chance, to make the world a better place, a safer one.  
This Earth was much more advanced scientifically than his, with the possible exception of all the special powers and the treatment thereof. Governments and agencies had seemingly long studied and tried to control humans with powers on his Earth, and it was clear that governments and agencies did the same things regardless of the actual thing being manipulated. They controlled people, made them into sheep.  
And so when the monologues were complete and Amanda's questions were answered, Hiro remained in their midst and turned once more to Amanda, who had just stood to leave the room.  
He bowed to her and said, "Amanda, thank you for your help. Without you I would never have been healed and you may not have ever learned the truth about your friends."  
Amanda grunted and turned her gaze downward. "You're welcome, but doesn't this knowledge make my life a greater risk now? I don't know if I want my family to be hunted and killed just because they might have been told what I know."  
Kyle immediately took her hand – to which Hiro noticed Jessi's hot glare – and said, "We'll always be there to protect you and your family Amanda. I promise." Kyle glanced at Hiro. "It won't be easy but we'll do everything possible."  
As Amanda walked out of the room, muttering that she should be getting back to her house to prepare dinner, Hiro stood and grasped both Jessi and Kyle by the arm. "Are you ready?"  
Time was at his control once more.

***

It was quickly apparent that neither Kyle nor Jessi could completely control time or space, but they were, with some effort, able to manipulate it slightly, make it slow, make it their own. Jessi even helped Hiro see how to reverse time directly, to avoid a paradox where there would be two Hiros in the same space at the same time.  
"Try again," she urged.  
Hiro did.  
"Try again," she urged.  
He bowed. "You are a great teacher Jessi. Thank you."  
She bowed in return and answered him in Japanese. "You are our sensei; to you we owe you much."  
It would take some time – or untime as he liked to call it – for them to achieve regular control of time, but Hiro strongly suspected they could eventually move as fast as the blond thief who had once stolen a part of the formula his father had entrusted him with safekeeping. It would certainly help them keep away from bullets anyway.

***

Hiro restarted time.  
Jessi smiled and appeared directly in front of Amanda, barring her way out of the room. Amanda sighed and stared up at the ceiling, "Great! Now you're going to be appearing out of nowhere to pester me at every opportunity!"  
Jessi looked hurt for a moment but gave Amanda a hug. "Our secrets have been eating at us for a long time Amanda. I hope we can be friends."  
Amanda was taken aback when Kyle appeared beside Jessi. He put his hand to her shoulder. "I should have told you most of this a very long time ago Amanda. I hope you will forgive me for my bad decisions."  
Amanda hugged Jessi back. "I think I'd like that Jessi," she started, turning her gaze to Kyle with a smile. "Just if you can promise not to scare me out of my wits when I'm leaning out a window or cleaning the gutters on the roof I'd really appreciate it."  
Kyle looked totally shocked, "I wouldn't!"  
Jessi released Amanda with a smug look. "If I did I would make sure to catch you."  
Hiro spoke over Amanda's gasp. "This knowledge is not to be abused; no power should be."  
Kyle and Jessi both turned to him solemnly, "Yes sensei."

***

After a delicious dinner from Mrs. Trager – Nicole, she insisted to be called – and in front of the entire Trager household, Hiro stood and bid his students farewell. Throughout dinner Kyle and Jessi had slowed time to a crawl to announce theories and practical applications to his power he had never dreamed of.  
He would try one of them now. Even though there were an infinite number of Earths, it would be possible to find his own time and space with relative ease, only be sensing the time and the space of his origin. With their help he would attempt to fully control time and space.  
"Thank you for your hospitality," he said in his broken English. "I will now depart for my own world, my own Earth. Thank you my students!"  
With those words, he was gone.

***

Several months later, Hiro materialized before Amanda, tattered and torn. He bled from numerous cuts and hadn't eaten in days. Only through the grace of his power and the newfound mastery thereof had he been able to return to this Earth. He collapsed, a trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth. His breathing was ragged and shallow.  
She had just been about to sit at her piano to play. Without hesitation she yelled for help.  
As she had expected, not even a second had passed before both Jessi and Kyle were in the room beside Hiro. They laid their hands on his forehead and started the healing process.  
When Hiro regained his breath, he announced, "My world has fallen to the Brain Man. He killed the Evil Butterfly Man; Charlie is gone."  
"How sensei? How could this Brain Man defeat the Master of Time and Space?" Kyle asked.  
Hiro frowned as he took a shuddering breath. "He was the water in the air, the mud at one's feet. He was in the lightning coming from the clouds. He was at every turn, everywhere, in every object. I could not stop him and I could not move the clock back far enough to a time where he wasn't also in control. He mastered Time."  
Both Jessi and Kyle's gazes fell. Amanda rushed to his side and hugged Hiro. "I'm so sorry for your loss, Hiro."

**Please review; the next chapter will be the last and will have something interesting in it.**


	6. Chapter 6

Over the course of months, life as neighbor to the podlings became surprisingly calm. Latnok repeatedly tried to maneuver in the shadows but Kyle and Jessi teamed up and thwarted every attempt before it even became a problem. Whether it had worried Latnok would likely never be known. Kyle and Jessi were almost always traveling in slow-time as they called it, and could apparently walk faster than cars drove.

Jessi had once boasted how much time it would take to traverse the state of Washington if they ran. The number in seconds had staggered her.

But it was no use trying to understand how they could move so quickly, or manipulate time at all. It kept her and her mother safe, and for that, Amanda was willing to suffer through the occasional prank or sudden appearance of either Kyle or Jessi when she didn't really want them around. No, Amanda was trying to live a normal young adult life and was preparing once more to join the New York Conservatory, and this time she wasn't going to wimp out and go home crying to her boyfriend.

It helped that she had no boyfriend.

And so she was playing a rather melodic piece that she found oddly stimulating when suddenly Jessi appeared beside her. Amanda held the sigh in check even as Jessi dropped a small note onto the left end of her piano's keys before vanishing just as quickly. When Amanda's hands next came to the low keys she swiped the note away and let it fall to the floor.

It never reached the floor because Kyle suddenly appeared with the note in hand and said, "Hiro has returned. You should come."

***

When Amanda saw Hiro sitting in the Tragers' living room, nursing what looked like either a coffee or a hot chocolate -- it was winter now -- she paled at the implications of his sudden reappearance. "Hiro, have you been unable to return to your Earth all this time?" She sat down next to him.

Hiro shook his head and said, in his funny English, "No, my world is lost to the most evil of men. There is nothing I can do to stop him."

Her jaw slackened as she wondered what possible power could overcome the control of space and time. She thought for long seconds before she said, "How is that possible Hiro?" She squeezed his hand. At least he looked fine and unhurt.

Jessi interrupted, "We found him badly hurt but we healed him."

Kyle nodded.

Hiro seemed to take comfort in her presence and in her smile for he brightened noticeably. His reaction made her smile in return. "I returned to my Earth and found everyone living in fear. The Brain Man had returned to the Carnival and killed a man who could multiply like a rabbit, make copies of himself. Then he attacked Samuel, the leader of the Carnival and although Samuel disintegrated ten of him with deadly swirls of sand, the Brain Man killed him.

"He smiled at me when he recognized me from our previous encounters. He was so much stronger than he had ever been, and he said to me:"

"Hiro, you will wish you killed me instead of having me save your girlfriend. Whatever happened to her anyway?" For Sylar's voice, Hiro made his voice as sweet and seductive as he could, while keeping a truly villainous feel.

Amanda shivered at his telling. He put his hand on her arm. "If you want to know what I've been up to Amanda, this is only the beginning."

Amanda said, "Continue."

"I stopped time just before one of his extras killed me." He sighed heavily. "I stole a very sharp blade from a man who had just been killed by him and he was only moments away from getting his lightning speed power. I once fought a girl with super speed and even with time stopped, she could move. I knew that once the Brain Man had that power, I would be dead, so I moved as many specials as I could out of the Carnival with time at my command.

"But I tripped after sixteen hours of doing this, and time started again. Suddenly all the Brain Men were flying everywhere, killing everyone with a power. I stopped time once more but had to hide from all the Brain Men.

"I watched him kill a family of firebreathers, and kill a woman made of water. Or maybe he just joined with her and stole her power because I saw her fighting him for many minutes after that first encounter." He breathed deeply, shuddering at the memory. "I teleported to New York and thought I could convince some heroes to help me stop him. I wasn't even done saying 'hello, we have a big problem' when a Brain Man came into the room almost killed me again.

"He stared at me, laughing, and killed the heroes who were frozen in time with me unable to stop him. All I could do was teleport out of there."

Amanda noticed both Kyle and Jessi were silent. Hiro resumed his story, "When I teleported into the past, more than 100 years in the past, I discovered that he had eventually found another hero with the power of time travel. Not only that, but because he is immortal, he sent himself thousands of years into the past and made himself into a god.

"A god of sand, air, water, and fire. The elements and time were at his disposal. Because he was immortal he no longer feared me and instead played with me. He brought me close to death countless times only to revive me by his will. He showed me the future, how he would bring humans into space and he would rule the entire Milky Way in less than 10,000 years. He bragged that not a single human would die in the long and bloody campaign.

"Humanity would have no will of course, living only as empty shells to do his bidding.

"No, the Brain Man has destroyed all hope for my world, my Earth. I have come here to try and find a way to keep him from coming to this or any other Earth." Hiro stopped then, and looked at Kyle and Jessi.

***

Hiro found work with a fake identity conjured up by Jessi and was soon the head of a large company named Madacorp. He also had a funny little side business: Dial-A-Hero, which was a little play on his name. Quite often, earthquakes and even tsunamis seemed to be unable to kill people, and the governments of the world decided to push for space exploration instead of war, at a mysterious organization's insistence.

Of course, Hiro knew Latnok, now headed by both Kyle and Jessi, had a heavy hand in this change. Wars around the world saw fewer and fewer casualties, and despots and tyrants who once commanded armies and weapons of mass destruction, quickly found their weapons to cease working even as they were launched into the air.

It came as a surprise really, when he once was brought into Jessi's memory -- what an astounding power that was, he thought -- and was asked, point blank, to visualize Sylar, the Brain Man.

Jessi had later drawn a picture of him. Amanda, upon seeing it, had gasped loudly. "I know him!"

***

Gabriel Suresh-Gray, on this Earth, was a timid scientist who loved and collected watches. His mother had barely known the man who had conceived her son -- for he died violently of some unknown cause (some said a virus) -- but had soon married a somewhat infamous Indian scientist, who loved and watched over little Gabriel as only a loving and tender father could.

Gabriel was well adjusted and level-headed, but had little imagination. He always seemed to know how things worked, even at a glance. His father said it was a wonderful gift, but Gabriel believed it to be a curse. No girl or woman had ever approached him, kissed him, and remained a mystery to him.

When a small Japanese man named Hiro appeared in his workshop -- with the door soundly locked by three different locks -- Gabriel paid attention.

It soon became apparent that Latnok had kept some of its investigations and experiments secret from its other arms. Not only were there specials on this Earth as well (there were only a terrifically small fraction of them thanks to the successful use of the Shanti virus, but you know, mutations and resistances will happen), Hiro, Kyle, Jessi, and Gabriel worked together to form a team of Universe Defenders.

With Gabriel's help, and Kyle's and Jessi's insight and imagination, and Hiro's total control over Time and Space, when the Brain Man finally came to this Earth, he would find nothing but vacuum.

***

Amanda smiled at her husband Hiro and wondered if he would ever stop moving long enough for her to give him a hug.

One day, two years later, Kyle appeared and touched her forehead. After a few moments, she actually saw Kyle slow time and walk away even as the rain around her seemed suspended in mid air, barely moving. "Kyle, did you just...?"

He turned around and smiled genially and it made her heart leap in her chest. "Yes, you now control time as well as we do."

"Can I jump off roofs?" she asked.

Kyle shook his head. "Please don't. Hiro wouldn't enjoy seeing you all mangled up, especially when you're pregnant."

She touched her belly. It was still completely flat; she'd only yesterday discovered she was pregnant and hadn't been able to tie her husband down long enough to tell him. She knew without a doubt how Kyle had learned of it and smiled. "You could tell me the color of my underwear right now if you wanted to right?"

Kyle blushed beet red. He coughed lightly and barely nodded.

"What is it then?" she asked.

"What? Now?" he asked. When she nodded, he grew an even deeper shade of red. He took a small glance and said, shaking his head vigorously, "No, I'm not going to answer that, no way!" He scurried away.

Amanda howled with laughter at poor Kyle. Even married to Jessi he was so easy to tease.

***

Gabriel finally learned and taught teleportation to the rest of the team, starting with Jessi and Kyle. They were his best friends for even now, they could surprise him with a new thought or activity. They were very special to him.

For that reason -- and that reason alone -- he traveled to Hiro's Earth, mere nanoseconds before a solar eclipse began.

Because he wasn't special in the way Hiro's Brain Man was, he did not fear the eclipse that would rob specials of their powers. Instead, with time nearly stopped, he merely waited until the Brain Man came into the room, one thousand feet into the ground, completely closed off from the world and without an exit. It was nonetheless a very large room, with sufficient supplies and oxygen to keep its occupant alive for the days the eclipse would last.

Gabriel and the others had always found it fascinating that the Moon on this Earth was dozens of times larger than their Moon on theirs. It was only three times further though and therefore the impact on tides and the like were roughly the same. It was odd really.

When Gabriel saw the first signs of the god-like Sylar (aka Brain Man, and technically Gabriel Gray, son of Samson Gray) in the large room, he made himself as inconspicuous as possible by increasing his transparency.

And yet Sylar nonetheless found him and started killing him. Nevertheless, when one has exceptional control over time and space, it is nearly impossible to kill that person in a mere nanosecond. Sure enough, Sylar appeared as a single entity, a single human before him.

Somehow Sylar produced a gun and started firing madly at him, a snarl on his lips. "You cannot be here!" he yelled.

The bullets all missed Gabriel easily, as did the chunks of rock and cement that tried to hit into the back of his head.

"Your reign is over Sylar. I, Gabriel, will take you down a notch." Gabriel did not have telekinesis but with a sharp knife and the bending of time, Sylar was now powerless to stop him.

No one ever heard Sylar's scream.

Three days was long enough for Gabriel to discover where Sylar's special spot was and to have it taken care of. When the eclipse ended, Gabriel appeared in place of Sylar, and ruled the Earth with a kindly hand, forever. Perhaps it shouldn't surprise anyone that Gabriel nonetheless assisted humanity in scouring the stars but the bloodshed was significantly reduced.

Once in a very long while, Kyle or Jessi or even Hiro would visit him and tell him of their Earth, of the Earth he'd left behind. There was still much work to be done, but he was up to the task; he was sure of it.

FIN


End file.
